Steve Smith carried an injury-plagued backcourt with 22 points,
including four in the final 19 seconds, as the Atlanta Hawks
held on for an 82-77 victory over the Washington Wizards.

Alan Henderson scored 18 points and hit a crucial tip-in with 44
seconds to play to give the Hawks a 78-75 lead. But Chris
Webber, who had 20 points and 12 rebounds, responded with a pair
of free throws to cut the deficit to one just four seconds
later.

Smith allowed the shot clock to wind down before draining a
tough pull-up jumper with 18.7 seconds to go. Webber missed a
three-pointer and teammate Juwan Howard rebounded, but Calbert
Cheaney was called for traveling.

Smith sank two foul shots with 3.1 seconds remaining to seal the
victory, Atlanta's second straight following a season-high
seven-game losing streak. The Hawks were without starting point
guard Mookie Blaylock and rookie guard Ed Gray, both of whom
went on the injured list earlier in the day.

"It's tough because Mookie is our prime ballhandler. You know
he runs the show for us," Hawks coach Lenny Wilkens said. "Then
you take Ed, who has great quickness, and a team that is
trapping you. So it was an adjustment, but we made it."

The only other guard on Atlanta's active roster is Eldridge
Recasner, who scored all seven of his points in the third
quarter and handed out nine assists.

After hitting his crucial jumper and on the way to the locker
rooms, Smith appeared to be talking trash to Webber. They grew
up together in Detroit, with Smith eventually attending Michigan
State and Webber going to Michigan. These teams meet again
Sunday in Washington for the back end of a home-and-home series.

"He's (Webber) a young fella, I had to let him know that the old
vet still had a little bit going," Smith said. "We were real
shorthanded and this was one that we just gutted out. In the
end, I just said, 'We'll see you Sunday, but let's not forget
about today.'"

"I've known Steve most of my life and I remember paying to watch
him play basketball in high school," Webber said. "It does go
back to Detroit and how long we've known each other. But at the
same time, we're just having fun. ... We'll be waiting for them
(Sunday). They better come prepared with their hoodies on and
their boots laced."

The Wizards, who had their three-game winning streak snapped,
forced 23 turnovers but shot just 36 percent (32-of-90) from the
field. The Hawks had a 44-37 edge on the boards, led by
Henderson's 11 rebounds.

Juwan Howard scored nine of his 19 points in a 16-4 run that
opened the third quarter and gave Washington its only lead of
the game, 53-52. But the Hawks answered with six straight
points, including five by Recasner. His two free throws with
4:29 left increased Atlanta's lead to 58-53.

Washington tied the game at 61-61 late in the period on a
three-pointer by Tracy Murray, who had 13 points, but Atlanta
reeled off the next 10.

Henderson made 2-of-4 free throws and Tyrone Corbin hit a tip-in
to give Atlanta a 65-61 edge after three quarters. Smith,
Henderson and Chucky Brown all had baskets to open the fourth,
pushing the lead to double digits.

The Wizards steadily trimmed the deficit but were never able to
take the lead. They pulled within 76-75 on Webber's fallaway
with 1:11 to play and had a chance to take the lead after
Christian Laettner missed, but Henderson hit the back-breaking
tip-in.

"We're just trying to get back on the right track. We've lost a
few games, so we came out real intense," Henderson said. "As
long as we keep playing hard together and play with the
intensity that we did tonight, we should win a lot of ball
games."

Atlanta opened the game with a 17-4 burst, keyed by Smith's
seven points and three assists. Washington made just two of its
first 18 shots, but was within 23-16 by the end of the period.

"We shot the ball terribly in the first quarter, but we kept
pecking away at it and pecking away at it and that's really all
we can ask for," Webber said. "We showed heart."

Wizards point guard Rod Strickland had 14 assists, but made just
3-of-16 shots for six points.